Hey guys, unfortunately I don't have my Android phone anymore (back to iPhone.) But in my post above I was actually able to find a QR code for the app somewhere (at one of those general app listing sites.) I don't remember where, but you might want to try searching around. Maybe it was an older version of the app, I don't know. But it worked reasonably well.

Well, Google wont fix the bug in the store so we have to wait until the version we are working on is completed and tested. Unfortunately, this happened to us rather early in the build cycle, and thus the app still has some weeks before it will be fully ready. Don't hold us to it, but we estimate 4-6 weeks.

We had to pull Ambiance from the store due to an Google bug that prevented us from adjusting the price back to $2.99 after a one-day free sale. Google is still unresponsive about this issue and looks like they will not address it. We have been holding off republishing to protect customers like you, that is, we want the older customers to get the updates. If we republish right now, our only options are to isolate the original customers, or give it away for free, neither of which we can do. Thus, we are not selling Ambiance on the Android market for the time being.

soooooooo it's been half a year... any new BS excuses for us? :-) oooh come on, I'm sure there's several new reasons why in-app billing couldn't work, why you can't launch because of some reason about some foreign language, or some other such nonsense. Please tell us! We're dying to hear why we aren't being allowed to GIVE YOU our HARD EARNED CASH for this app! :-D

Sorry guys, people adjust prices up and down on the market all the time, I can't believe this is actually the problem. I will gladly buy the application through the android market, but not some third party vendor. Unacceptable.

I don't understand. "putting it on an alternative market" is still inferior to uploading a new, PAID version of the app on Android market. Last I checked the Developer Console, it's in big red letters that you can't go from "free" to "paid" app. Sounds like a feature request more than a bug. So what's your actual problem here besides ego?

6 Months ago, this wasn't well documented. We have decided to publish again to the Android Market when our new version is ready, but are still trying to work out a way such that previous customers do not get burned. Putting it on Mobihand has always been a temporary solution to this problem, meant to appease potential customers who want the app. Coming to conclusions without knowing anything about us, the problem, the history of the problem, or our solutions, and then trying to say the problem is ego is kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. Just because you don't like third party stores doesn't mean everybody else does. Our response on Mobihand has been quite strong.

Jay said: "Fair enough. Appreciate the reply and consideration that I'm a potential future paying customer. Looking forward to seeing it on Market. I don't dislike third party markets, I just felt your reasoning kind of a cop-out. "I want a feature request implemented before I grace Android Market with my awesome app." Maybe it's just me...."

I am sorry but Refunds through the Google Marketplace are only available for a short period after the original download. You can try contacting them to see if there is anything they can do for you though, as all refunds have to go through the store at which you purchased the app. In the future, I would recommend backing up your apps and your phone in case any other apps you have are also removed from the Marketplace.

Why do you assume you know everything about the issue and have the magical solution? Their situation is completely different. As we said before, we have decided to publish again to the Android Market when our new version is ready, but are still trying to work out a way such that previous customers do not get burned. We have no malicious intentions here and will find the optimal solution as soon as we have the new version ready. Until then, the current state of the app is that it has been removed from sale from the Android Market.

I don't presume to have a magical solution, that you are being malicious, nor that I know everything.

What I do assume is that, plain as day, another publisher is offering refunds on an app now "pulled" from the market in the same way you pulled yours, with data that any app publisher has access to. Hence, and therein, removing the clearly problematic "customers feeling burned by having to repurchase" hurdle that everyone is clearly up-in-arms about.

As stated previously, their situation is different than ours. There is no update currently available to Ambiance, and thus, if you have the app, you are not missing out on anything. The only people affected right now are the handful that have deleted the app without making a backup first. Even though Ambiance is not offered on the Marketplace for sale, the app still works the same way for anybody with it on their phones. Publishing a second app as a stop-gap until the new version is ready is not an option. When the new version comes out and we have something new to deliver to existing and current customers, we will figure out the optimal solution, even if it is making a second app and giving refunds.

As an aside, we appreciate your feedback here on the Urban Apps community and appreciate your passion for Ambiance, but we would like to remind you, and anybody else reading, that you are talking to human beings here and to try and be polite in responses, even if it is a negative comment.

Several people merely want the app "as is" currently - and some of those people are new users who don't even have the app from the "first time" it was released because they didn't know about it back then.

A re-release of the current version, which would auto-upgrade once the upgrade was available, is both answering a (clearly very loud, anxious, and eager) new customer demand, and would create a solution for those who purchased it formally and no longer have access to it because they didn't backup their apps (which, I agree with others, "y u no bakup yer apps?!" is not a proper response to this problem for former users).

Lastly, with regard to polite responses, I would ask that you please respond in kind. In the above discussion your initial response was a personal attack rather then a polite, business like response that didn't dig into the customer you were engaging (me).

Businesses have to encounter very emotional customers all the time (it's just the way the world works). Extremely harmful customers are often just "hung up" on, or ignored entirely, but those who are spitting some venom, but clearly still passionate about finding a solution, should never be told to "be more polite" or... even more-so... responded to with that same venom. It creates a horrible cycle of attacking that will often merely end in the customer feeling the company is cruel (even if they are merely defending themselves by responding in kind), and shows the greater world a side of the company that the company itself doesn't want, harming trust and faith in the company overall.

As hard as it can be at times, a company's service representatives (who are always "real people") need to take any bile, vitriol, and venom and ignore it. Some of the best and most talked-about customer service stories start off with a angry raging customer who is slowly disarmed by a polite and cheerful agent and eventually the "Beast" turns into a "Prince" and the company shows that it has an amazing quality and strength in it's customer service policy.

I know this problem is getting you guys down. I see every response that gets posted here. However, continue to persevere, stand strong, always be polite and have a smile on your face (even if you're sending "stock" responses), and try as hard as you can to be the company a company that you would want to engage with if you were a customer on our side.

It is not an option to fragment our app into two at this time in order to fix the problem of people deleting the app. As the problem is affecting less than 0.1% of customers, fragmentation of the app would only create market confusion amongst the majority of existing customers. When the new version is ready, we will figure out the optimum solution at that time, even if it means fragmenting the app into two versions similar to what that developer you mentioned did with his app. Obviously, we would like to avoid this fragmentation, but the solution cannot be determined until the new version is ready.

I am sorry Matt but I think I have to go with the rest of the group on this. The company has done a poor job of getting the product to the people in a timely manner. And, I don't think anyone believes you guys have malicious intent at all. In fact everyone loves your app and is eager to use it and pay for it.

I think you guys simple need to come up with a better strategy for more timely releases.

I don't believe you intended to be malicious. But you have violated consumer trust which is basically you will not/have not provided your app for download for people who have already paid for it. I can think of several reasons why "backup your app" isn't a resolution to this issue, a issue your company chose to create.
I have purchased your app twice. Intended to purchase it a 3rd time for windows, which i now see would be foolish. I hope you guys get it together, i hope i can re-download the app for free, i doubt i will however, you guys seem to have "moved on".

I understand your frustration. When the new version of the app is ready, we will figure out the optimum solution for existing customers. Until then, the handful of customers who have deleted the app from their device will not be able to recover it through the Google Marketplace.

Okay, yet another month has gone by and no new version of the app is clearly ready to download on any site other then urban apps? The Amazon Market is now available for you to list your app in, and make it available to download as well... it'd be fantastic to actually, finally, utilize this app where I want to utilize it: on my mobile device(s) (Xoom & Samsung Galaxy S)

soooooooo it's been half a year... any new BS excuses for us? :-) oooh come on, I'm sure there's several new reasons why in-app billing couldn't work, why you can't launch because of some reason about some foreign language, or some other such nonsense. Please tell us! We're dying to hear why we aren't being allowed to GIVE YOU our HARD EARNED CASH for this app! :-D

I wish I'd have seen this before I just purchased Ambiance from the Mobihand store this morning. I "upgraded" from my iPhone to an HTC Sensation yesterday. The ONE app I really wanted was Ambiance! I should have looked at the quality and reviews before purchasing. I'm glad you guys recognize it sucks.

In the years since I purchased my first iPhone, Ambiance is the one app I have glowed about to friends and workmates. I reccommend it to everyone. I hope you can produce an Android version that's on par with the iOS version.

I can hobble along on this inferior, Indian imitation (nice alliteration there), I suppose. How can we get notified when the REAL Ambiance is available for Android?

You should pull the current one from the Mobihand store to keep people like me from encountering this disappointment though.

Hm - what about those of us who bought the product on Mobihand, but don't have any records? I've been trying to get my data off Mobihand, but I bought the app almost a year ago and they aren't very responsive.

We are close to releasing an Ambiance Android beta and are looking for beta testers. This thread has the most interested Ambiance Android supporters, so if you would like to help us beta test the new version, please contact us at info@urbanapps.com for more information

This is great news and much respect for the blog post referred above. As one of those &$@@heads who is typing this post on an iPad while my iPhone (work) and android phone (personal) are charging next to me - I am very much looking forward to seeing ambiance on the android platform...

...now, if only there was a way to keep them all sync'd together... ;)